STRONG
by isaidwoahthere
Summary: The boys had noticed Kendall acting strangely, but didn't think much of it. Until they got a call from Mrs. Knight that changed everything.
1. Chapter 1

Logan, Carlos, and James rushed thorough the hospitals doors terrified. The silent, wide, open room almost empty, due to it being the early hours of the morning. Logan quickly went to the desk in the middle of the room, the other two boys closely following behind him.

"We need to find Kendall Knight," He said to the woman at the desk breathlessly.

The woman opened her mouth to say something, a bit overtaken by the boys' frantic movements and scared expressions. But before she said anything, an older woman stepped in, "He arrived about an hour ago. Follow me."

The boys nodded, all three of their hearts rapidly pacing, as they followed the woman to the steel elevator, practically running. They rode up the whole way in silence, besides James nervous shoe tapping on the floor. A habit Logan had took account of long ago.

Mrs. Knight had called Logan at about 11 PM; Katie, Kendall, and Mrs. Knight had gone out to dinner and to see a movie for a usual family night they had every once in a while, while the other's stayed in the apartment. Logan had answered her call carelessly, expecting the usual, "We'll be home soon, need anything?" until he heard the worry and panic in her voice.

"Logan.." she had said to him between sobs, "K-Kendall's on his way to to hospital in an ambulance...something terrible's happened."

Carlos and James had been laughing about something, but quickly stopped and the room become silent when they noticed Logan's expression.

_Something terrible's happened..._Her voice constantly rang through his ears, giving him chills.

And here they were. The elevator's large doors opened on the floor. They first saw Jo, Kendall's long time girlfriend, sitting In the waiting chair nervously. Her hands were holding on tightly to the chairs arms, as she shook slightly. A heartbreaking expression on her pale, tired face. Jo's gaze came over to them, and quickly jumped to her feet when she realized it was they had gotten here after the car ride that seemed like ages to the boys.

"Thank God," she said with strain in her voice, coming towards the boys. As she got closer, Logan noticed it looked like she had been crying. Which didn't help his nerves at all. She hugged each of the boys tightly before telling them softly, "They won't let us see him yet.

Jo rubbed her arms up and down nervously. "They're doing some testing in there.." they followed her gaze to a big white door to the left of them.

Just past Jo, Katie Knight was wrapped in her mothers arms, her face panic stricken and confused. Logan rushed to Mrs. Knight "What happened?"

"Kendall had a stoke. To make matters worse, he hit his head, and currently has a concision."

Logan suddenly became lightheaded. He felt the blood drain from his face and felt as if his legs were going to come out from under him. _No. _

Logan looked back at his friends with worry. Carlos looked like a lost puppy dog, like he would erupt in tears in any second. While James stood there with a almost expressionless face.

This wasn't right. Things like these didn't happen to Kendall.

"Excuse me," a tall man with graying hair said to Logan, Carlos, and James. "You've been with Kendall the last few days, correct?"

Logan gulped and nodded, "Yes, every day."

"Did he complain about any pain? Dizziness?" the man asked, pulling out a clip board and a pen.

"No...but he did seem to be acting unusual," Logan told to who he assumed to be the doctor. "He was acting...well, not like himself. He's been really tired and didn't really want to do anything."

The doctor nodded, then proceeded to write some things down.

"He said he was dizzy," Carlos piped in, talking for the first time since they had gotten the call about Kendall.

James nodded, "He was getting bad headaches."

"Since when?"

"Maybe last Tuesday?"

"Alright, boys, thanks," the doctor turned to leave, but Logan caught his arm.

"What's going on?" Logan asked. "What's going to happen to him?"

The doctor sighed and said to them in a hushed tone, "I'm not going to lie to you, boys. Things aren't looking too good. He isn't reacting well to the treatments we are currently giving him."

Logan gulped and his breathing became heavy. This was his fault. He should have noticed the signs. It was right under his nose, but he ignored everything. God, he was such an idiot. He could have stopped this. Logan blamed it all on himself.

"But...he's going to be okay, _right_?" James said to the doctor as more as a statement than a question.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Logan felt like he was going to throw up.

Logan sat in the waiting room with the others for about another hour or so, rubbing his hands together nervously in complete silence. The doctor finally allowed Mrs. Knight into Kendall's room. She squeezed Katie's hand, who was sleeping by now, then slowly made her way to room 213. Jo, Carlos, Logan, and James all watched her closely as she walked to the door.

Then, about twenty minutes after that, everyone else could enter.

Logan shakily stood up and gulped. As he walked to the door with the others, he kept repeating in his head, _He's going to be okay. He's Kendall. Kendall's always okay._

When they got to the door, Logan squeezed his eyes shut before opening them in the hospital room. His heart sank, he felt as if he was going to pass out.

Kendall lay infront of them in a hospital bed. Pale and looking so fragile. There were tubes all over him. Logan would have guessed he was dead aside from the beeping machine next to Kendall, beeping.

Logan heard Carlos whimper in fear next to him, and watched James keep a straight face while he blinked rapidly, trying to get rid of tears, he guessed.

_This is not happening._

Jo about collapsed next to him, but James caught her and kept her standing as she flung her hand over her mouth. Mrs. Knight kept her gaze away, looking in the corner of the room.

Logan was glad Katie wasn't awake to see her big brother like this; the boys couldn't even handle it.

Kendall was their leader. He always was. Everyone looked up to him. But now he was laying so lifeless and vulnerable in that hospital bed, not making a single movement. Seeing Kendall just made Logan even more guilty.

For an hour or so, the boys were all scattered around the room. Logan and Carlos would play games or just talk, Logan felt like it was his responsibility to keep him going, seeing how he'd already failed Kendall and had to become the new leader. But James, on the other hand, didn't say a word. He just sat in a chair in the corner with a stern face and his arms crossed, not saying a single word.

Jo sat in a chair next to Kendall's bed. Tightly gripping his hand and crying at the sight of her weak boyfriend.

The whole situation was so surreal to Logan. Like it was a dream. But it wasn't.

"Excuse me," a nurse said, entering the room and making the boys jump a bit, "Visiting hours are over. I'm sorry."

Mrs. Knight nodded and stood up, swallowing hard and taking a deep breath. "Jo, honey. I'll drive you home. Boys, I got us a room in the hotel next door so we can visit tomorrow, I'll meet you there. Let's go."

They all nodded and agreed, Logan walked behind the others.

"Um, Momma Knight? I'm going to stay just for another minute. I'll be out soon, I promise."

Mrs. Knight uttered him a small smile, "Take your time." She closed the door behind her, leaving Kendall and Logan in the dark hospital room.

Everything seemed creepier now that they were alone.

Logan gulped and looked down at Kendall, feeling like he could burst out in hysterics any second at the sight of him. He sat in the chair next to the bed.

"Hey buddy." Logan said to his friend. "You really did it this time, didn't you?"

It was weird; not having him respond.

"Why didn't you tell us? Why didn't you tell _me_? I'm your best friend...When your mom called, we all about had a stro- or, uh, really freaked out. You know, your girlfriend's worried sick about you, man. And Katie's all torn up. I think she's taking it the hardest."

Logan tilted his head at Kendall, "But you're going to be okay. Kendall Knight's always okay."


	2. Chapter 2

Logan awoke to the pitter patter of rain on a window. He was a bit confused why he wasn't in his own bed, but then memories from the night before came flooding back along with a nauseous feeling.

He got out of bed, his brain buzzing with questions about Kendall and what was going to happen, bringing a headache.

Logan checked the clock. _8:02. _The boys didn't get back to the hotel until about 3 AM, and Logan had a horrible time getting to sleep. He had to many thoughts in his mind, and spent a lot of the time in bed googling the chances of a coma patient to wake up, and if there was anything he could possibly do to help.

He also couldn't help but think about just a day before Kendall's collapse, at rehearsal.

_"Let's try 'The City is Ours' one more time..."_

_ It was early in the morning, and the boys much rather be sleeping than at rehearsal. "Carlos, you're a beat off. And Kendall, you're falling behind a bit..."_

_ "Sorry," Kendall uttered under his breath. _

_ Logan watched as Kendall squeezed his eyes shut for a couple seconds and opened them again, then putting a hand to his forehead._

_ "You okay?" Logan asked._

_ "Yeah, yeah," he replied, waving everyone off. "I'm fine." _

He hadn't been fine, though. Why didn't Logan pick up on this sooner!

When James and Carlos got up, the boys decided to eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant before going to visit Kendall.

The three rarely spoke. Especially James, he'd barely uttered a word since the accident. When Carlos woke up, he silently greeted Logan, but James on the other hand just rolled out of bed and rushed to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

It was so odd to the three of them to not have Kendall around. It was the first time the four had been separated in a long time, and it didn't feel right. Almost as if they couldn't function with the tall blonde who completed their group.

When they got to Kendall's room in the hospital, Logan sighed at the sight of his friend in the exact state he was in before. It wasn't as if Logan had expected to find Kendall in his room healthy as ever with his wide smile greeting them with a, "Hey guys! What'd I miss?" Or like had he magically healed over night or something, he knew better than that. But was still disappointed and let down a bit when he saw it looked as if Kendall had made no progress at all.

James turned immediately, walking back down the hospital hall.

"James, where are you-" Carlos was cut off by James.

"Fuck off." Carlos blinked a couple of times before turning back into the room with Logan with a hurt expression.

"He didn't mean it," Logan assured him. "It's just a lot on him...a lot for all of us."

Carlos nodded meekly, then sat down in one of the chairs in the room, Logan sat next to him.

"Do you want to play cards of something?" Logan asked.

"Sure," Carlos replied quietly.

James returned about a half an hour later.

"Where have you been?" Logan asked him sternly as he entered the room.

James didn't respond, he just sat down in a chair across the room from Logan and Carlos with a rough expression.

"James, this is hard for _all _of us, okay?" Logan started. But you can't act like this. You're being a ass towards all of us and-"

Logan was interrupted by a loud beeping noise sounding.

The three jumped in their seats, "What's happening?"

The heart monitor was flashing. Logan had enough medical books to know what this meant.

_No. _

Logan rushed to the bedside of his best friend, shaking his head in horror at the sight before him.

A doctor rushed into the room, along with a nurse.

Logan was pushed back and out of the way by the group, as he began to shake.

The three boys were trying to be guided out of he door, but Logan fought to stay into the room.

But, two men took him by the arms, forcing him out of the room as the doctors and nurses began yelling directions at each other.

The door shut in front of them, and the three pushed their heads up to the small window on the door, looking onto the scene with horrified expressions.

James was breathing heavily and Carlos was rapidly blinking.

They watched as a nurse fed a medication into the tube as a doctor placed two paddles on Kendall's chest.

"His heart rate is dropping," a nurse yelled.

"Charging 200!" the doctor holding the paddles yelled, "Clear!"

Carlos took his head away from the window, not being able to watch any longer. He put his back to the wall next to Logan and slid down it slowly as the doctor barked, "Charged! Clear!" over and over again from inside the room.

Logan couldn't think straight. Was Kendall going to _die?_

"No, no, please God no," Logan heard James silently say under his breath.


	3. Chapter 3

Logan was still stunned at the events that they witnessed moments before through that small glass window. His heart was still pounding in his chest rapidly and there were so many unanswered questions running through his mind. He couldn't focus on anything. Too many things were happening at once, and _way_ to fast.

The nurses had asked for the boys to go into the waiting room, as they were running tests on Kendall, but not to worry because they had "revived him".

_ Revived him._

That meant Kendall had actually _died_ right in front of them. Logan technically watched his best friend die.

The thought just made him sick. Logan couldn't get the image out of his head. Thank God they were able to revive him. But what if they hadn't? What if it happens again?

Just to think, a few days ago the boys were sitting in the living room, laughing and having a great time. Not a care in the world; now, Kendall was in the hospital, and everything seemed to be crashing down right in front of Logan's eyes.

James' nervous foot taping had returned just seconds after they entered the waiting room and Carlos was anxiously rocking back and forth in his chair, looking like he could start to cry any moment.

Logan was absolutely exhausted. Not to mention he hadn't eaten in who knows how long.

The sight of watching Kendall through the hosptial door window had made Carlos sick. He threw up in the bathroom shortly after, and hadn't said a word since.

Suddenly, Mrs. Knight rushed into the white room frantically, "What happened?"

"Oh, Kendall died. Then was brought back to life. No biggie," said James carelessly.

Logan shot him a glare.

Mrs. Knight raised her eyebrows, "_What?_"

Before the boys could tell her the whole story about what had happened in the hospital room, the doctor from before entered the room.

"You're Kendall Knight's mother, right?" he asked.

"I-I am," she replied shakily.

"Well, as you may or may not know for the past thirty minutes we've been running some tests on Kendall. We're trying a treatment on him now, which could possibly bring him out of his coma."

The three boys stood from their seats. "What? Really?"

To them it seemed to be the only good news they'd heard in ages.

"Possibly," he repeated. "No promises."

Logan gulped again. He shouldn't get too excited, the doctor said '_possibly' _and '_no promises'. _

"_But," _the Doctor said. "The chances of Kendall waking up have greatly improved, but we can't know for sure. We're going to try it tomorrow, if that's alright with you?"

"Yes, yes!" Mrs. Knight cried. "Of c-course."

"_Logan." _Logan's eyes burst open. The room he was in was dark, apart from sudden flashes of light outside the wide window, and a steady beeping from the heart monitor echoed through the room. Thunder still boomed from outside from the storm that had been raging all day long.

Logan sat up in the chair he was in, still not fully awake and a little dizzy, to meet Mrs. Knight's eyes.

"Honey, it's late. Everyone else is at the hotel. Come on, I'll bring you back first thing in the morning," she said to him.

Logan sighed before looking over to Kendall in the hospital bed next to him. It sure didn't look like Kendall was getting any better to him.

Mrs. Knight must have noticed his distress, because she said in a comforting voice, "I know things are hard for you boys. Things are obviously hard for me too. But I promise…it's going to be okay..." The look on her face didn't encourage or convince Logan everything was going to be okay, though. But, he nodded anyways.

Logan gathered his things from the hospital room, silently told Kendall goodnight, and followed Mrs. Knight out of the room. Logan yawned, wishing she had just let him sleep in there. It was the first time he'd gotten any sleep in a _long _time; he didn't even remember falling asleep, or going back into Kendall's hospital room, for that matter. The last few days had been a blur, really.

On the car ride back to the hotel, Logan actually had a hard time keeping his eyes open. Which was a blessing to him at this time. He tiredly walked into the empty hotel lobby and entered the elevator, leaning against the wall, and rubbing his forehead. _What time was it, anyways? _

When he got to his room, he found Carlos spread across his bed asleep, snoring as always, and James sitting on the edge of his bed, looking down with his face in his hands.

"Uh, James...?" Logan asked. _Was he...crying? "_Are you okay?"

James must have not heard Logan enter the room, because he jumped at the sound of his voice and tensed at the sight of him."I-I..uh, nothing. I'm fine."

He _was _crying. That was the first time he'd shown any other emotion other than anger over the past days.

"Okay.." Logan said unsurely, sitting down on his own bed and rubbing his eyes. Logan laid down, staring at the ceiling.

"Logan...he's going to be okay,_ isn't he_?" James broke the silence, finally said something to Logan directly, and not in an attitude.

"I...I don't know. We're going to just have to wait," Logan told him, a little caught off guard by his question. "But whatever happens, we're a family and that's never going to change. Everything will be okay in the end. I know it."

"Man, I sure hope you're right."

"_Me too."_


	4. Chapter 4

Logan woke up at 6 AM. He groaned, he had gotten less then three hours of sleep. He rolled over in his bed with a sigh; his whole body ached. He closed his eyes once again, hoping he could somehow get back to sleep.

"Logan...? Are you awake?" he heard James' voice call from the right of the dark hotel room.

"Yeah," he replied tiredly with a yawn.

"Go you want to go get breakfast or something? We can pick something up for Carlos, then get him and head to the hospital," James suggested.

"Okay," Logan said, sitting up in his creaky bed and scratching his neck. He was glad for James' sudden change in attitude, hopefully, he could maintain in for the rest of the day.

The boys found a small diner around the corner. The car ride over was silent, and through out the breakfast meal things were mostly quiet as well, aside from the occasional 'Could you pass the salt?' and things like that. Logan was poking his scrambled eggs with his fork, he had lost his appetite days ago.

"Not hungry either?" James asked him with a bit of a smile, pushing away his plate of pancakes from him.

Logan shook his head, not taking his eyes off the table.

"Let's get back then," James said, standing up and throwing a couple of wrinkled dollar bills on the table.

When they got back to the hotel, Carlos was still sleeping, as expected. They woke him up, but basically had to drag him out of bed.

The hospital was quiet when they arrived, still being pretty early in the morning. The same nurse from the days before led them into the room, where Kendall lay unchanged. Mrs. Knight, Katie, and Jo had also arrived. Katie was in her mothers arms, as Mrs. Knight stroked her head softly. Jo sat in the chair pull up next to Kendall's bed, with her arms crossed over her chest.

The three took their usual spots as everyone greeted them softly.

Logan shifted in his chair and leant his head against the wall, listening to the crashes of thunder from outside.

"Did they give him the treatment yet?" James asked, breaking the long silence. "You know, the one that might wake him up.

"Yes, late last night just before Logan and I left," she told him. "They don't know when it will take effect though."

"And the chances of him waking up?" Logan asked hopefully.

"Maybe, maybe not..." she replied somberly. "They said we're just going to have to wait and see."

This remark caused another long silence, everyone lost in their own thoughts.

Never in a million years Logan would have thought this would happen. This was the first time someone so close to him was in such critical condition. And dealing with it for the first time with his _best friend _was a terrible feeling.

The group hadn't watching TV or anything in days, and Logan wondered if the press knew about this. Did their fans know? If so what were _they _thinking.

Which brought another question into Logan's mind that he seemed to forget about: What was going to happen to the band? Before this incident, the band seemed to be on top of the world, now everything was crashing down. Even _if _Kendall woke up, Logan knew enough medical things to know he'd have a long recovery process.

And it's not like the band could just go on without Kendall while he was recovering, it was hard enough for the boys to function doing everyday things without Kendall by their sides. If they took a long break, would their fans still be there for them? Wait, no matter how long it could be? Logan was afraid they'd slowly slip from even their biggest fan's thoughts, slowly forgetting the lyrics to their songs and taking down the posters on their walls, replacing them with new bands.

Not to mention, the boys friendship could disappear. Holding a conversation was rare for them, everyone was so quiet and _awkward. _If Kendall didn't get better, they could drift apart.

Logan could only assume the worst of all the things buzzing in his mind.

Though out the rest of the day, James played games on his iPhone and Logan read as Carlos and Katie watched TV on the small TV on the wall in the corner of the room. At about 11 PM, Katie and Carlos had fallen asleep.

"I'm going to bring her home," Mrs. Knight said, standing up and picking up her daughter, "Jo, do you want a ride home?"

"No," she said meekly, the first thing she'd said in hours, "I want to stay here with Kendall."

"Okay," she replied exhaustedly. "We'll see you all in the morning."

Only thirty minutes after that, Carlos and James went back to the hotel. Logan decided the reason he could only sleep in the hospital was because he was so paranoid about what could happen to Kendall when he wasn't here.

By 1 AM, Logan had finished two novels, and Jo was sound asleep.

Logan rubbed his eyes, tired, and tilted his head at his friend as he did the first day they visited him. His stomach dropped and he got a terrible feeling at the sight of him. Logan had tried not to directly look at Kendall though out the day, barely being able to handle the scene.

Logan gulped and sighed, ready to go back to his book, when he thought he saw Kendall's hand twitch.

No, surely he had just imagined it. He was just tired is all.

But Logan saw his hand twitch once again. Logan's heart started beating rapidly in his chest.

"K-Kendall...?" whispered Logan in awe.

Kendall's eyes fluttered, making Logan almost fall out of his seat. He looked at the blonde haired boy full of hope.

His eyes fluttered once more, before fully opening, revealing his well-known green eyes, but closing again. Logan rushed to the bedside, pushing the nurse call button several times.

"He's going to be okay," Logan repeated to himself hopefully, looking to his friend to try to catch another glimpse of his bright green eyes, "_He's actually going to be okay."_

Logan prayed to God he was right.


	5. Chapter 5

"Logan, we just did some tests on Kendall now that he's woken up. Basically we tested his reflexes and such, and seeing if he contain consciousness," the petite brunette nurse said to him in a hushed tone, then told him with a smile, "He's responding well. Things are looking good."

"Thank you," Logan grinned back, ecstatic to know Kendall had woken up, and things were going to be alright.

"You can visit with him now, just know he may be a little tired and out of it for a while," the nurse told him. "Just make sure he gets rest."

"Of course," Logan nodded quickly. "When can he come home?"

"It's hard to say now, we need to make sure he's cleared. Even though things are looking good for him, the recovery process with be lengthy."

"Thanks again."

The nurse gave him a nod and another comforting smile and closed the door to leave them alone. Logan quickly made his way from the doorway he had been talking to the nurse in to his chair from before, next to the bed.

Jo was still sleeping, he thought he ought to let her. Even if Kendall had woken up, Jo needed sleep.

Logan was so happy. He was getting his best friend back. It felt like a giant weight was lifted off his shoulders, that everything was _actually _going to be okay. Logan was scared Kendall wouldn't be able to celebrate Christmas with everyone, he'd miss out on the gift giving, big dinner, Christmas carols, and the old Christmas movies they played on ABC Family every year.

But he woke up. Logan could barely believe it, but Kendall had woken up.

Kendall was picking at the fabric of the hospital bed's blanket and his eyes were wandering the room. He looked weak; Logan knew it'd take a while for Kendall to get back to his normal self again.

"Hey, buddy," Logan said to him, practically beaming at Kendall.

"Hi," Kendall replied tiredly, rubbing his eyes.

Logan had never been so happy to hear Kendall's voice in his life, even if it was somber and broken.

"Your mom, Katie, and the rest of the boys are on the way," Logan said. "They should be here soon."

Kendall nodded slowly.

Kendall's mom started crying when Logan had told her over the phone that Kendall had woken up. James could barely believe him, saying that if Logan was joking he was going to kill him, then said Carlos and him would be there soon.

His eyes followed all the tubes hooked up to his body, and followed them up to the machines they were plugged in to. "What happened to me?" Kendall asked blinking a couple of times.

"You got a bad concussion," Logan told him shakily. "From a stroke. Why didn't you tell us you were in so much pain?"

Kendall sighed and looked into a corner of the room, "I..I don't know. I didn't want to worry anyone."

' Logan laughed a little and shook his head.

"How long have I been here?" he asked, looking around the hospital room, raising an eyebrow.

"About four days," Logan guessed. Logan didn't even know; everything over the last few days had been a complete blur, he didn't even know what day it was. Let alone if it was morning or night, due to the terrible weather.

"When can I go home?" Kendall asked, putting his head on his pillow and looking up at the ceiling.

"They don't know yet," Logan said. "But it's going to take sometime for you to, uh, recover."

"I've only been awake for twenty minutes and I already want to go home," Kendall told him. "_Now."  
><em>"If you think this is bad, try staying here day and night for almost a week."

"You were here that long?"

"Yeah," Logan said to Kendall.

"Oh."

There was a long pause between the two boys, leaving the room in complete silence aside from the steady beeping of the machines. But soon, Logan couldn't help himself from crying, he had been so strong for everyone, but now he couldn't control it, "_I thought you were going to die."_

Kendall gulped and took his eyes off of the ceiling and sitting up in his bed, looking nervously at his friend, "R-Really?"

Logan nodded his head slowly, "You did...die once actually."

Kendall's eyes widened at Logan's remark, "_What?"_

"You...your heart rate got really low one day, and...and we- Carlos, James, and I- were in the r-room, and-" Logan was getting all choked up. The memory was too much for him, and Kendall sensed it, he looked down guiltily and his face turned a little red.

"I-I'm sorry," Kendall said softly, looking down at his fingers, then met Logan's eyes. "I put you guys through a lot of shit, didn't I?"

Logan just nodded again, "Yeah, asshole."

Kendall chuckled tiredly, then looked over to Jo, curled into a ball sleeping in the chair next to him.

"She's been really worried about you," Logan told Kendall.

Kendall smiled.

"Jo," he said her name softly, to try to wake her up. "_Jo."_

Jo shifted in her seat, but still didn't open her eyes until Kendall almost yelled her name, "Jo!"

Jo flinched and scooted up in her chair before tiredly opening her eyes. "What do you-" her eyes widened and she jumped when she saw Kendall. Jo looked at him in complete awe as he looked at her with a goofy smile on his face.

Jo formed a smile along with tears of joy.

"Hey, babe," Kendall said to the overwhelmed girl in front of him.

Jo flung her arms around her boyfriend tightly, and sobbing out the words, "Kendall Knight don't you ever put any of us through this ever again!"


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER SIX

"Here, do you want more orange juice? I'll go get you some more," James said to Kendall, standing up to go down to the hospital's cafeteria.

"Are you cold? I can turn up the heat in here," offered Carlos.

"Do you need-" Logan was cut off by Kendall.

"Guys!" he yelled to them. "I'm fine! Relax."

"They're just concerned about you honey," Mrs. Knight said to him. "We all are."

"I know, I know," Kendall said, sitting up in his bed. "Thanks, guys. But I'm fine, really."

When the Carlos and James had showed up, Carlos immediately started crying when he saw Kendall really was awake. He had rushed to the bed and gave him a giant bear hug, Kendall weakly smiled and laughed at how happy he was to see him.

"Carlos, I can't breathe," Kendall had chuckled to Carlos, who had been tightly squeezing him through the hug. James and Logan had to practically pry Carlos off Kendall.

James was a lot calmer than Carlos, but no denying he was happy. He had entered the room yelling, "Thank God you're alright you idiot!" He gave Kendall a quick hug, and saying if he ever did anything like this ever again he was going to kill him.

Just a few minutes later, Mrs. Knight and Katie had shown up. Katie started crying as well, and sprinted to get into her big brother's arms. Mrs. Knight gave her son a long hug, saying she was so thankful he was okay.

The group spent the rest of the day filling in Kendall on everything he had missed, which wasn't much seeing how the boys spent the last week sitting in his hospital room, waiting and hoping for Kendall to wake up.

"I feel sick," Kendall said softly to no one in particular, looking up at the ceiling again`.

"The doctor said you would feel a bit drowsy and sick over the next few days," Mrs. Knight told him.

Kendall sighed and laid his head on the pillow, "When can I go home?"

"Same time that you asked an hour ago," Mrs. Knight laughed. "Three days. They need to make sure you're stable."

"I'm fine," insisted Kendall.

"That's what you were saying before all this happened," James said to Kendall sternly.

Kendall rolled his eyes and reached for the remote for the TV.

"Come on Katie," Mrs. Knight said, grabbing her daughter's backpack from the chair in the corner. "It's getting late."

"No, I wanna stay," Katie said to her mother, though she could barely keep her eyes open.

"We'll come back first thing in the the morning. Jo, your father probably wants you home. I'll give you a ride home."

Jo nodded, gave Kendall a kiss, and stood up to leave. Jo had actually been really quiet lately. The only time Logan heard her speak was a little bit after Kendall had woken up. The couple talked to each other in hushed tones, then James and Carlos had ran into the room, interrupting the conversation.

Katie gave Kendall another hug and his mother kissed him on the top of his head, "See you tomorrow, sweetie."

"I'm tirrreeeeddd," whined Carlos, who was outstretched over two chairs with his hood over his face.

The boys laughed, "Come on, Carlitos, let's get back to the hotel then," James said.

"See you tomorrow buddy," Carlos said to Kendall.

"Don't die on us," James yelled as they exited the room.

Kendall and Logan chuckled.

"So…are you hungry or anything?" Logan asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Kendall told his friend. "You know, you can leave if you want to."

"No," Logan said. "I want to stay."

"Oh, okay," Kendall said a bit surprised. "Thanks."

There was a long pause between the two friends. "So...what was it like?" asked Logan. "You know...being in a coma?"

Kendall shrugged, "Kind of like a really long nap, I guess." "Oh."

"I...I just remember, the day I had the stroke, we were walking out of the restaurant...There was this unbearable pain in my side and I thought I could just shake it off. But...it didn't. It became too much and I fell down. I hit my head on something hard...maybe like the curb."

Logan gulped. He really didn't want to be hearing this. Imagining everything that happened in his mind made him sick.

"I think I was going in and out of consciousness or something because things were black, then I saw blurry figures over me. People were yelling, and I heard some crying, Katie I guess. Then everything was just...black."

"Oh," replied Logan shakily, the only thing he was able to get out after hearing Kendall's story.

Kendall squeezed his eyes shut.

"You okay, bro?" asked Logan a little concerned.

"Uh...yeah..." he replied weakly.

"_Kendall."_

"Fine. I feel like I'm going to throw up," Kendall admitted.

"Do you want me to get the nurse?" Logan asked, already standing up to go find her.

Kendall nodded, knowing Logan wasn't taking no as an answer.


	7. Chapter 7

Logan had spent the stormy night sleeping at the hospital, and Carlos and James arrived early the next morning, walking into the room absolutely soaked from the terrible rainy weather outside.

"I need food," James announced to no one inparticular, leaving the room to go to the hospital's cafeteria.

"I'll come with you," Logan said to James, though he had already left the room, standing up and following him out of the room.

When they were alone, there was a long pause. Finally, Kendall asked Carlos, "Why have you been so quiet around me lately?"

Carlos looked up at him and shrugged. "I don't know."

Kendall sighed, there was another pause between the boys. Then Kendall asked, "Where you…worried about me?"

"Of course I was," Carlos said loudly, not believing his friend could even ask. "We all were."

Kendall put his head against the headboard, looking up at the ceiling, "Really?"

Carlos stood up, his voice cracking, "_Obviously! _Kendall, there wasn't a second all of us were thinking the worse, that you'd die on us!"

"Oh," he replied. Then said softly, "Was it really _that _bad?"

"Seriously, Kendall? Do you think we just disappeared like magic when your heart stopped? That we didn't have to see that? No, we were _all _there. And we saw _everything._ You think we didn't spend a week in here hoping were weren't going to lose you?" Carlos screamed, sounding and looking like he could burst into tears any second.

Kendall gulped, looking down guiltily at his thumbs. "Oh…" was the only thing he was able to utter out, but even that was barely audible. He hadn't realized he'd really put his friends through so much over the past few days.

Carlos sat back down in his chair again, calmed down, and the other two boys arrived into the room again seconds later, with bags of chips and bottles of soda.

At one point of the night, James and Kendall were left alone in the dark, gloomy hospital room.

The two kept their eyes glued to the TV, not speaking a word to each other. They hadn't directly spoken to each other in what seemed like ages, though it wasn't too long.

After a couple of minutes of complete silence other than the TV, Kendall got the courage to ask James, "Were _you _worried about me?"

"What do you think, idiot?" James shot back, not taking his eyes off the TV to look at Kendall.

"Well," Kendall said, picking at the blankets white fabric, "You don't seem like it. You haven't said a single word to me since you saw me for the first time when I woke up."

"Yeah, well seeing a friend die fucks up your brain," spat James harshly to Kendall, finally actually looking at him in the eye.

Kendall looked down immediately feeling even guiltier about the whole situation. He felt absolutely terrible.

James stood up quickly and made his way to the door to leave. Kendall opened his mouth to protest his leaving, but quickly shut it again. James left the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving Kendall alone in the dim light.

Logan entered the room, returning from the bathroom down the hall, "Hey, where's James?"

"He left," muttered Kendall, not looking up.

"Why?" asked Logan, though he already had an idea why.

He shrugged glumly, "I don't know. He just doesn't seem to care about me that much."

"Oh come on," Logan said, sitting down in one of the leather chairs next to Kendall's bed. "Whatever James said, I'm sure he didn't really mean it. We all know James is like that sometimes."

Kendall nodded slowly. "I'm s-sorry," Kendall sighed then said softly, "I think things would have just been easier if I had died."

"Don't you ever say that. Kendall, when we all heard you were here, we all were horrified. Kendall, your our _leader. _We didn't know what we'd do without you if we lost you. Everything would have fallen apart," Logan told his friends.

Logan gave his friend a well-needed hug, but separated when the nurse from before came into the room.

"Hey Kendall," she said in a soft tone, almost as if she were talking to a small child. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," he mumbled as she checked his heart rate.

Logan watched and gulped a bit as the nurse changed Kendall's IV, also injecting him with all other kinds of needles.

Kendall didn't flinch a bit while he was getting all the shots, all of this becoming accustom too him by now. He just stared into space, like he wasn't getting the dozen of shots at all.

"Okay, all done," the nurse said to him. "Alright, that'll do it for tonight, Kendall. And the doctor just told me we may be able to release you tomorrow."

"I can go home tomorrow?" Kendall sat up fast in his bed, grinning wide.

"_Maybe," _the nurse said, getting ready to leave the room. "I'll let you know."

And with that she left.


	8. Authors Note

AUTHORS NOTE:

First I want to just thank all the readers and reviewers! I love you all! Strong is my first piece of free writing I've publicly shared, so thanks for all the love sent my way! Anyways, the story's coming to an end! I know it's short, but I'm not sure where to go from here.

BUT…I'm starting a new story called….BROKEN. I'm really excited about this one! So keep your eyes peeled!

(Oh and sorry for the long update time!)

Thanks for everything! xx


	9. Chapter 8

When James had finally returned, Carlos was spread across the small, black couch facedown, snoring loudly while Kendall and Logan watched Friends reruns. Both their eyes were locked on the tall brunette as made his way across the room silently and slumped down in the chair next to Logan.

"Where have you been?" questioned Logan.

"I just walked around," he shrugged.

Logan shot James a look, and kicked his leg while whispering forcefully into his ear so Kendall couldn't hear, "Apologize for whatever you said, asshole."

James sighed and looked over at Kendall who took his eyes away from the TV and tilted his head at James. James turned back to Logan as Kendall looked back to the TV. "I didn't say anything," James insisted.

"Just say you're sorry!" Logan commanded.

James sighed again then looked back to Kendall, getting his attention again, "Look, man, I'm sorry for storming out of here like that. I just have a lot on my mind, you know? I shouldn't have been such a dick."

"Don't worry about it," Kendall said. "It's my fault too." Honesty, Kendall had felt really bad about the fight he and James had. And he worried that when James left, he would go do something stupid and put himself in some sort of danger or something. He'd been worried all night, but he didn't dare tell Logan that.

Before anything else could be said between them, the regular nurse entered the room with a smile as she made her way over to the regular check up items used on Kendall daily. "Okay, Kendall. We're going to test your blood one last time, and if everything's in check, you'll be on your way tomorrow."

A huge grin appeared on Kendall's face. The other boys- aside from the sound asleep Carlos- also had smiles plastered on their faces.

The nurse took out a needle, and poked it into Kendall's arm swiftly as usual, Kendall not flinching a bit. It was the other boys it bothered. Logan looked away as I soon as he saw the blood going through the clear tube; he always hated the sight of blood. Funny, though he aspired to be a doctor, blood terrified him. James looked away quickly as well, trying to entertain himself with something else, which happened to be poking the sleeping Carlos.

"Well, that should do it," the nurse smiled sweetly as she threw away the needle and took the blood sample into her care. "We'll have your results in the morning."

The next morning, the four boys lay lazily around the bleak hospital room. What day was it? How long had they been in the hospital? Logan had lost count after three, the days soon all came into a blur. And Kendall- Kendall didn't even bother to try to figure that out.

Logan and James played cards around a small wooden table in the room, as Carlos watched SpongeBob on the small silver TV-, which seemed to be constantly on through their stay. The people in the room next to them must've been pulling their hair out by now.

Kendall sat up in his bed, poking at the hospital food that had been placed in front of him with his plastic fork with an unpleasant look on his face. "The food here is shit," he declared, flinging the white fork across the room.

"Well, hopefully you'll be home soon," Logan said, giving him a hopeful smile.

Kendall sighed with a nod, "Hopefully. I never thought I'd actually say this, but I miss my moms cooking."

But what if he couldn't go home yet? What if they're all getting their hopes up for nothing? Logan knew well enough though things could seem to be going well, they can quickly crumble back down again. And he prayed that wouldn't be the case.

When the white door to the room opened and the nurse walked inside, all four boys sat up, getting very anxious. The results had to be in by now.

She placed a plastic bag, which looked to be from a continence store or take out restaurant, on the small side table next to Kendall's bed.

"What's that?" Kendall asked, raising an eyebrow the plastic.

"Your clothes," she smiled at him, giving the bag a pat. "Kendall Knight, it looks like you're going home."


	10. Chapter 9 FINAL CHAPTER

Kendall stepped out of the hospital bathroom. He was wearing his own clothes for the first time in what seemed like forever, gladly leaving that hospital gown behind him. Though, the clothes Kendall had on didn't look like his clothes anymore, due to the drastic weight loss he had at the hospital, causing them to look huge on him. Even with the baggy clothes, Kendall looked like the happiest person in the world.

He'd blown the glum hospital room they had all spent so many restless nights in a big kiss, and sang all the way down the hospital halls as they exited, making the rest of the boys laugh at Kendall's behavior.

Logan was so glad to see Kendall finally happy again. To see Kendall back to his old self, not weak, frail, and depressed. To leave all of that behind- well, not everything was left behind. Kendall was still to be cautious, and had to have a check up at home here and there, and visit the hospital once every two weeks for the next four months to make sure everything was running smoothly.

The four best friends slid into the black car that had been parked in the hospital parking lot for who knows how long, and Kendall blasted the radio as loud as it could go, loving life and being free again. The four sang loudly along to each song which came on the radio- no matter what it was.

When they got to the Palm Woods, Kendall quickly got out of the car and pulled the three others into the lobby quickly. He got a huge grin as he took his first step into the building, and beamed when he spotted Jo. He ran up to her, taking the blonde girl by surprise and giving her a long, passionate kiss.

"Nice to have you back, Kendall," she giggled, with their foreheads pressed together.

They then made their way up to apartment 2J, Logan getting a wave of relief as they finally returned back home. There were loud thuds, as though running footsteps, coming down the hall, along with what seemed to be the quick click clacks of high heels.

Sure enough, Katie and Mrs. Knight appeared in the living room with them.

"My boy," Mrs. Knight sobbed out, taking Kendall into her embrace.

"Hey Katie!" he exclaimed to the little girl on the verge of tears as she flung her arms around her big brother, and he spun her around.

Logan watched the scene and smiled to himself. Through all the pain, worrying, praying, and fear, everything actually turned out okay. Things were finally getting normal again. _Whatever the hell that was. _


End file.
